What do you think?
Rate this book
Lyonesse #1-3
The Complete Lyonesse
The Elder Isles - an ancient land where chivalry and the realm of fairie exist side by side. A land of mystery, strange beauty, high adventure and arcane magic. Kings are at war, opposing magicians devise ever more cunning stratagems. It is a land where princesses and changelings both can become embroiled in political rivalries and the quest for the grail.
Jack Vance's Complete Lyonesse is a perfect addition to the series, contains Suldrun's Garden, The Green Pearl, and Madouc (the novel for which Vance won the World Fantasy Award).
The Gollancz Black Books have proved to be an immensely successful formula for getting well loved stories into the hands of people who also love well made books.
Jack Vance's Complete Lyonesse is a perfect addition to the series, contains Suldrun's Garden, The Green Pearl, and Madouc (the novel for which Vance won the World Fantasy Award).
The Gollancz Black Books have proved to be an immensely successful formula for getting well loved stories into the hands of people who also love well made books.
1028 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
63 people are currently reading
2041 people want to read
About the author
Jack Vance
776 books1,583 followersAka John Holbrook Vance, Peter Held, John Holbrook, Ellery Queen, John van See, Alan Wade.
The author was born in 1916 and educated at the University of California, first as a mining engineer, then majoring in physics and finally in journalism. During the 1940s and 1950s, he contributed widely to science fiction and fantasy magazines. His first novel, The Dying Earth , was published in 1950 to great acclaim. He won both of science fiction's most coveted trophies, the Hugo and Nebula awards. He also won an Edgar Award for his mystery novel The Man in the Cage . He lived in Oakland, California in a house he designed.
The author was born in 1916 and educated at the University of California, first as a mining engineer, then majoring in physics and finally in journalism. During the 1940s and 1950s, he contributed widely to science fiction and fantasy magazines. His first novel, The Dying Earth , was published in 1950 to great acclaim. He won both of science fiction's most coveted trophies, the Hugo and Nebula awards. He also won an Edgar Award for his mystery novel The Man in the Cage . He lived in Oakland, California in a house he designed.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 70 reviews
September 16, 2017
Who but Jack Vance could take the Atlantis myth, mix in some Arthurian legend, tie it all in to a more or less historically accurate format, add plenty of magic and magical creatures, and wind up with an AWESOME storyline.
The Elder Isles, Vance’s conglomerate creation of many legends packed together along with a healthy serving of Vance originality, are situated just south of Cornwall, just west of Brittany, north of Spain and smack dab in the middle of fantasy lover’s hearts. Setting out from the beginning that the lands are doomed to sink (and confirmed by anyone with checking out a world map and NOT seeing Lyonesse) Vance sums up European legends and gives them a new life.
Comprising the novels:
Suldrun's Garden
The Green Pearl
Madouc *(that won the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel - 1990)
and published between 1983 and 1989, Grand Master Jack Vance’s The Complete Lyonesse creates the story of The Elder Isles, which includes Hybras (the Hy-Brasil of ancient Irish legend), the mystical city of Ys and Avallon, as well as connections to Fairy Kingdoms. Vance also ties the legends to 5th century historic connections – there are references to Britons, Celts, continental Europe and Catholicism.
One element that I found very interesting was Vance’s creation of the Ska. The Ska were a race of indigenous Scandinavian, pre-neanderthal (legends have them racially pure going back thousands of years). In the Elder Isles, the Ska are portrayed as cruel and otherworldly (even more so than the Fairies).
If anyone has read my reviews of the books, it is true that I had some mixed feelings about the first two books, but read all together and looking back over the landscape created by Vance, his world building, taking over as it does where legends left off, the Lyonesse creation is vintage Vance.
The Elder Isles, Vance’s conglomerate creation of many legends packed together along with a healthy serving of Vance originality, are situated just south of Cornwall, just west of Brittany, north of Spain and smack dab in the middle of fantasy lover’s hearts. Setting out from the beginning that the lands are doomed to sink (and confirmed by anyone with checking out a world map and NOT seeing Lyonesse) Vance sums up European legends and gives them a new life.
Comprising the novels:
Suldrun's Garden
The Green Pearl
Madouc *(that won the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel - 1990)
and published between 1983 and 1989, Grand Master Jack Vance’s The Complete Lyonesse creates the story of The Elder Isles, which includes Hybras (the Hy-Brasil of ancient Irish legend), the mystical city of Ys and Avallon, as well as connections to Fairy Kingdoms. Vance also ties the legends to 5th century historic connections – there are references to Britons, Celts, continental Europe and Catholicism.
One element that I found very interesting was Vance’s creation of the Ska. The Ska were a race of indigenous Scandinavian, pre-neanderthal (legends have them racially pure going back thousands of years). In the Elder Isles, the Ska are portrayed as cruel and otherworldly (even more so than the Fairies).
If anyone has read my reviews of the books, it is true that I had some mixed feelings about the first two books, but read all together and looking back over the landscape created by Vance, his world building, taking over as it does where legends left off, the Lyonesse creation is vintage Vance.
Read
November 9, 2019The shop assistant was right. I had only gone into the book shop for the pad of writing paper. And there I was at the till with a clutch of books with the paper somewhere beneath it.
I had been lent the first volume in this series and then in a glut of greed I grabbed the other two in the bookshop along with a couple more books to send off as presents. I haven't gorged myself so far on chocolate bars but on books for sure more than once.
It was the early 1990s. It was the first fantasy I had read for a few years and I have a lingering sense that they were well written, but I don't remember much specific from them. The setting was ok, Arthurian medieval with fairies, otherwise I have vague memory of the progressive eels (?) they were good - but slippery. And the fairies were pleasingly indifferent to human concerns and morality. Otherwise the whole has sunk into seas of forgetfulness.
Pleasant at the time, but I don't imagine reading it again.
I had been lent the first volume in this series and then in a glut of greed I grabbed the other two in the bookshop along with a couple more books to send off as presents. I haven't gorged myself so far on chocolate bars but on books for sure more than once.
It was the early 1990s. It was the first fantasy I had read for a few years and I have a lingering sense that they were well written, but I don't remember much specific from them. The setting was ok, Arthurian medieval with fairies, otherwise I have vague memory of the progressive eels (?) they were good - but slippery. And the fairies were pleasingly indifferent to human concerns and morality. Otherwise the whole has sunk into seas of forgetfulness.
Pleasant at the time, but I don't imagine reading it again.
March 16, 2015
The Complete Lyonesse is a stunning, illustrated omnibus edition of Jack Vance's Lyonesse series published by Gollancz.
It combines the Celtic legends of Ys and Lyonesse into a fantasy reminiscent of the Arthurian romances, reminiscent in context, tone and style. It seamlessly melds actual mythic or legendary elements with purely fictional elements. The style reminds me of reading The Tain or the Mabinogion tales, though somewhat more readable as novelizations. The language is complicated by the use of many archaic and obsolete words, concepts and cultural details. Vance has captured the essence of these legends along with those of Tristan and Iseult, Merlin and Morgana-like characters along with fictional heroic characters, both male and female. It is full of allusions to the mythic foundations of Western civilization from the pre-Hellenic Greeks through the Dark age Celts and pre-Vikings to Arthur and his ilk. Names harken to ancient peoples and places, some used directly like 'Alcyone' and others modified like 'Murgan' (Merlin).
Like the sources for our myths and legends, a continuing story is told throughout the books interspersed with tales, like fairy tales, that could stand on their own but are related to the whole.
In short the Lyonesse trilogy is completely satisfying literature worth study and immersion in detail which demands to be re-read regularly.
As I cannot find fault with the tales, it gets 10 of 10 stars, a rare occurrence for me
It combines the Celtic legends of Ys and Lyonesse into a fantasy reminiscent of the Arthurian romances, reminiscent in context, tone and style. It seamlessly melds actual mythic or legendary elements with purely fictional elements. The style reminds me of reading The Tain or the Mabinogion tales, though somewhat more readable as novelizations. The language is complicated by the use of many archaic and obsolete words, concepts and cultural details. Vance has captured the essence of these legends along with those of Tristan and Iseult, Merlin and Morgana-like characters along with fictional heroic characters, both male and female. It is full of allusions to the mythic foundations of Western civilization from the pre-Hellenic Greeks through the Dark age Celts and pre-Vikings to Arthur and his ilk. Names harken to ancient peoples and places, some used directly like 'Alcyone' and others modified like 'Murgan' (Merlin).
Like the sources for our myths and legends, a continuing story is told throughout the books interspersed with tales, like fairy tales, that could stand on their own but are related to the whole.
In short the Lyonesse trilogy is completely satisfying literature worth study and immersion in detail which demands to be re-read regularly.
As I cannot find fault with the tales, it gets 10 of 10 stars, a rare occurrence for me
October 28, 2010
It’s not every day that a major publisher claims to be publishing one of the great masterpieces of fantasy. It is rarer still when such hyperbole actually may be deserved. Professor Adam Roberts, in his Afterword to this edition, claims that ‘Jack Vance’s Lyonesse books are the greatest fairy tale of the twentieth century.’ (page 1015.)
Here we have, not one, but the three books of Vance’s Lyonesse trilogy (Suldrun’s Garden, The Green Pearl and Madouc) in one lovely looking volume, illustrated throughout by Les Edwards.
The first impression is that this is a tome that shows care for the material: for the first time ever, the text has been taken from the Vance Integral Edition (so eliminating textual errors), the paper is a fine quality and the endpapers by Dave Senior show a lovely map of Lyonesse, the ancient mythical island allegedly just off the South West coast of England. (Mention has been made that Lyonesse may have been the mythical Atlantis.)
Perhaps more importantly, the stories themselves are also wonderful. It would be wrong to tell all here, as much of the fun is in the telling.
Book One, Suldrun’s Garden, tells the tale of princess Suldrun, daughter of King Casmir of Lyonesse, who is brought up in the castle in Lyonesse Town. Her father agrees to marry her off to Faude Carfilhiot in order to solidify political machinations. When Suldrun refuses, she is abandoned and locked away in the part of the castle known as her garden. The arrival of a half-drowned sailor is actually found to be Prince Aillas of Troicinet, betrayed by his brother, Prince Trewan. Aillas is imprisoned by King Casmir, but not before Suldrun and Aillas fall in love. Whilst Aillas is imprisoned, believed dead, Suldrun has a baby, Dhrun. Under the care of Suldrun’s old nursemaid (to keep the child hidden from Casmir), Dhrun is taken by fairies and replaced with a female changling, Madouc.
Suldrun, believing that both father and child are dead, hangs herself in the garden she has been imprisoned in for all this time. Upon Aillas’s escape from his cell, he returns to the garden, is told by Suldrun’s ghost of the child and sets off on a quest to retrieve his son from the fairies.
In the meantime, jilted magician Faude Carfilhiot is involved in political machinations in order to achieve greater magical powers. Most of this involves conflict with fellow magician Shimrod, but it also means that he kidnaps Dhrun and ends up combating Aillas.
In Book Two, The Green Pearl, the tale tells of the creation of (through the death of Faude Carfilhiot) and the subsequent search for a legendary green pearl, from which destinies can be formed. So again, a quest novel of sorts, whilst Casmir and Aillas continue to battle between themselves and the issue of the changeling child is still to be resolved.
Book Three, Madouc, tells us more of the changeling daughter of Suldrun, Princess Madouc. Here she wishes to find out her background and thus there is a quest for knowledge and understanding. Like her mother, Madouc refuses to involve herself in a marriage alliance set up by Casmir. She instead becomes a prize for anyone who brings Casmir the Holy Grail. In another adaptation to the grail tale, Madouc, in turn, decides to search for the Grail herself in order to secure her own future. This book is still as dark in places as the earlier books but my overall impression is of a lighter tone than the other two books, and so can thus sit a little oddly, though it is still great reading.
Such brief descriptions of quite lengthy and complex tales do not really do them justice. It is the way that they are written that makes these tales sparkle anew. They are, in turns, detailed, funny, bawdy, scary and romantic. Vance’s use of names and vocabulary makes these books a joy to read.
Though originally published separately they do work together as one tale. Overall, the tale, as in the best fairytales, is a magnificent mixture of history (though not necessarily our history), romance and myth – in this case, Arthurian legend. Amongst this we have honour and romance, lust and betrayal, and quests. There are kings and queens, princesses, witches and magicians, fairies, trolls and goblins.
However, just in case that the use of the word ‘fairytale’ might give you an impression that this is a light, fluffy and somewhat inconsequential tale, it must be said that this is most definitely not. It can be rather dark. The creatures here are quite nasty, to say the least. There are scenes that are definitely adult in nature – sex and even rape are part of the tapestry of life here, for example.
The books themselves are typical Vance: deftly written, filled with unusual words, strange names and stranger events. There is that mischievous Vance humour too: names such as Queen Sollace and Kerce, (as ever with Vance, say them out loud to get a full impression), weird things that outside the context of the novel sound bizarre: drumming hedgehogs, anyone?
And yet its tone is such that a reader cannot fail to be impressed. For all its fun and frivolity, within the context of the novels, it works. The characterisation is well done, the sense of place otherworldly and yet wonderful. This is clearly not our world, and not (unlike many) a medieval Fantasy tale in Tolkienesque trappings. It is richer and deeper than many.
For those who have not read Vance before but have liked some of the more recent big sellers, there are echoes of Tad Williams’ Osten Ard here, as well as some of that Song of Ice and Fire world building – except that this one predates them all. It may be worth mentioning here, if it wasn’t known already, that Vance’s influence on George RR Martin has been noted by the man himself, as too Raymond Feist and Terry Pratchett (Both quoted on the back cover.)
The Afterword is an addition specific to this edition. It is also a magnificent summary of what Roberts sees as the key aspects of Vance’s writing skill and the value of the Lyonesse novels to the genre. Many fans of Vance’s writing claim that Lyonesse is his masterwork, which is pretty impressive considering the number of books written by Vance over the last sixty years or so. (There are three pages of stories and novels collated in small print in the bibliography at the front of this book.)
Consequently this one also comes from me, for what it’s worth, with a full seal of approval. If you haven’t read them already, this is one volume that you must have. Even more impressively, this edition does the work justice. This one’s a keeper. Essential reading.
Mark Yon, August 2010.
Here we have, not one, but the three books of Vance’s Lyonesse trilogy (Suldrun’s Garden, The Green Pearl and Madouc) in one lovely looking volume, illustrated throughout by Les Edwards.
The first impression is that this is a tome that shows care for the material: for the first time ever, the text has been taken from the Vance Integral Edition (so eliminating textual errors), the paper is a fine quality and the endpapers by Dave Senior show a lovely map of Lyonesse, the ancient mythical island allegedly just off the South West coast of England. (Mention has been made that Lyonesse may have been the mythical Atlantis.)
Perhaps more importantly, the stories themselves are also wonderful. It would be wrong to tell all here, as much of the fun is in the telling.
Book One, Suldrun’s Garden, tells the tale of princess Suldrun, daughter of King Casmir of Lyonesse, who is brought up in the castle in Lyonesse Town. Her father agrees to marry her off to Faude Carfilhiot in order to solidify political machinations. When Suldrun refuses, she is abandoned and locked away in the part of the castle known as her garden. The arrival of a half-drowned sailor is actually found to be Prince Aillas of Troicinet, betrayed by his brother, Prince Trewan. Aillas is imprisoned by King Casmir, but not before Suldrun and Aillas fall in love. Whilst Aillas is imprisoned, believed dead, Suldrun has a baby, Dhrun. Under the care of Suldrun’s old nursemaid (to keep the child hidden from Casmir), Dhrun is taken by fairies and replaced with a female changling, Madouc.
Suldrun, believing that both father and child are dead, hangs herself in the garden she has been imprisoned in for all this time. Upon Aillas’s escape from his cell, he returns to the garden, is told by Suldrun’s ghost of the child and sets off on a quest to retrieve his son from the fairies.
In the meantime, jilted magician Faude Carfilhiot is involved in political machinations in order to achieve greater magical powers. Most of this involves conflict with fellow magician Shimrod, but it also means that he kidnaps Dhrun and ends up combating Aillas.
In Book Two, The Green Pearl, the tale tells of the creation of (through the death of Faude Carfilhiot) and the subsequent search for a legendary green pearl, from which destinies can be formed. So again, a quest novel of sorts, whilst Casmir and Aillas continue to battle between themselves and the issue of the changeling child is still to be resolved.
Book Three, Madouc, tells us more of the changeling daughter of Suldrun, Princess Madouc. Here she wishes to find out her background and thus there is a quest for knowledge and understanding. Like her mother, Madouc refuses to involve herself in a marriage alliance set up by Casmir. She instead becomes a prize for anyone who brings Casmir the Holy Grail. In another adaptation to the grail tale, Madouc, in turn, decides to search for the Grail herself in order to secure her own future. This book is still as dark in places as the earlier books but my overall impression is of a lighter tone than the other two books, and so can thus sit a little oddly, though it is still great reading.
Such brief descriptions of quite lengthy and complex tales do not really do them justice. It is the way that they are written that makes these tales sparkle anew. They are, in turns, detailed, funny, bawdy, scary and romantic. Vance’s use of names and vocabulary makes these books a joy to read.
Though originally published separately they do work together as one tale. Overall, the tale, as in the best fairytales, is a magnificent mixture of history (though not necessarily our history), romance and myth – in this case, Arthurian legend. Amongst this we have honour and romance, lust and betrayal, and quests. There are kings and queens, princesses, witches and magicians, fairies, trolls and goblins.
However, just in case that the use of the word ‘fairytale’ might give you an impression that this is a light, fluffy and somewhat inconsequential tale, it must be said that this is most definitely not. It can be rather dark. The creatures here are quite nasty, to say the least. There are scenes that are definitely adult in nature – sex and even rape are part of the tapestry of life here, for example.
The books themselves are typical Vance: deftly written, filled with unusual words, strange names and stranger events. There is that mischievous Vance humour too: names such as Queen Sollace and Kerce, (as ever with Vance, say them out loud to get a full impression), weird things that outside the context of the novel sound bizarre: drumming hedgehogs, anyone?
And yet its tone is such that a reader cannot fail to be impressed. For all its fun and frivolity, within the context of the novels, it works. The characterisation is well done, the sense of place otherworldly and yet wonderful. This is clearly not our world, and not (unlike many) a medieval Fantasy tale in Tolkienesque trappings. It is richer and deeper than many.
For those who have not read Vance before but have liked some of the more recent big sellers, there are echoes of Tad Williams’ Osten Ard here, as well as some of that Song of Ice and Fire world building – except that this one predates them all. It may be worth mentioning here, if it wasn’t known already, that Vance’s influence on George RR Martin has been noted by the man himself, as too Raymond Feist and Terry Pratchett (Both quoted on the back cover.)
The Afterword is an addition specific to this edition. It is also a magnificent summary of what Roberts sees as the key aspects of Vance’s writing skill and the value of the Lyonesse novels to the genre. Many fans of Vance’s writing claim that Lyonesse is his masterwork, which is pretty impressive considering the number of books written by Vance over the last sixty years or so. (There are three pages of stories and novels collated in small print in the bibliography at the front of this book.)
Consequently this one also comes from me, for what it’s worth, with a full seal of approval. If you haven’t read them already, this is one volume that you must have. Even more impressively, this edition does the work justice. This one’s a keeper. Essential reading.
Mark Yon, August 2010.
January 15, 2015
If Tolkien's Lord of the Rings is the greatest fantasy epic of the 20th century, then Lyonesse is surely the greatest fairy tale -- in every sense of the word. This might be the best thing Vance has ever written and it offers everything fantasy is loved for: perfect world-building, unique and memorable characters, picaresque adventure entwined with grim tragedy, endless creation of the fantastic, and grand scenes strengthened by small, emotional touches. Magic drips from every page of this lovely, ethereal, byzantine saga, and the story as a whole is riveting, fascinating, moving, amusing, enchanting and haunting. It's a towering triumph, Vance's magnum opus in a career full of great accomplishments.
October 23, 2018
There isn't praise enough for this trilogy, which seems to be at once rooted in ancient British mythology and quite novel; both solemn and merry. In one moment it's grand with vision, and in the next it's romping through riddles like a Grimm fairy-tale. It has a dreamy quality - things that sound ridiculous when you try to describe them were perfectly plausible as you were reading them. Like a dream, it's hard to remember exactly what happened. You don't remember the plot so much as the mood - there are moments that linger.
June 21, 2013
The ‘Lyonesse’ books are Jack Vance’s ‘magnum opus’, at least in the field of fantasy: there’s simply so much in them. The world is almost overwhelmingly vivid. It’s not ‘great art’ (although it almost achieves this in the first section): it’s pure pleasure. It’s like watching a conjuror pull an endless stream of brightly coloured scarves out of a hat.
The first section, ‘Suldrun’s Garden’, is probably the best thing that Vance ever wrote. It is both fantastic and real, often funny and endlessly inventive but also deeply moving in its portrayal of the princess’s unsympathetic upbringing, the hero’s painful incarceration, and their brief time together. I was often reminded of Fuchsia, and the ‘Gormenghast’ books. As with ‘Emphyrio’, Vance sticks to a single location and theme and develops it fully, rather than going off on firework tangents.
Nothing that comes after the tragic conclusion of this section, when the hero sets off on a series of wildly picaresque adventures, is as powerful or as real. Vance gets into a comfortable mode of outrageous invention, and just keeps running with it, for the rest of the book and throughout the next two. There is perhaps a sense of diminishing returns as the trilogy progresses. But it’s all so generous and filled with wonders that I’m not complaining.
I was moved to read that Vance was losing his sight as he wrote these books, and was virtually blind by the end: these extraordinarily colourful books were his farewell to the world of colour...
The first section, ‘Suldrun’s Garden’, is probably the best thing that Vance ever wrote. It is both fantastic and real, often funny and endlessly inventive but also deeply moving in its portrayal of the princess’s unsympathetic upbringing, the hero’s painful incarceration, and their brief time together. I was often reminded of Fuchsia, and the ‘Gormenghast’ books. As with ‘Emphyrio’, Vance sticks to a single location and theme and develops it fully, rather than going off on firework tangents.
Nothing that comes after the tragic conclusion of this section, when the hero sets off on a series of wildly picaresque adventures, is as powerful or as real. Vance gets into a comfortable mode of outrageous invention, and just keeps running with it, for the rest of the book and throughout the next two. There is perhaps a sense of diminishing returns as the trilogy progresses. But it’s all so generous and filled with wonders that I’m not complaining.
I was moved to read that Vance was losing his sight as he wrote these books, and was virtually blind by the end: these extraordinarily colourful books were his farewell to the world of colour...
June 20, 2020
Vance's masterwork. See https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... for my review.
This is the omnibus edition, all 3 vols of the trilogy conveniently bound into one volume. Well, except it currently starts at $200 used!
Not to be missed, regardless. Vol. 1 is still in print, $18 shipping incl. All 3 vols for $51.50, new tps. Go for it! Great stuff. On my Desert Island list of the 100 Best.
This is the omnibus edition, all 3 vols of the trilogy conveniently bound into one volume. Well, except it currently starts at $200 used!
Not to be missed, regardless. Vol. 1 is still in print, $18 shipping incl. All 3 vols for $51.50, new tps. Go for it! Great stuff. On my Desert Island list of the 100 Best.
July 3, 2011
This book contains all three books in the Lyonesse trilogy. Therefore, spoilers to book 1 can be found in the review of book 2 and so forth. I'll review each book below and then briefly summarize my thoughts about the entire series.
Suldrun's Garden
In some ways, this is a strange book. After reading it, and thinking about the story, you're kind of wondering why you were so caught up in this, given that it's a rather well-known and simple story, a story that has been told so many times before about a princess who is useless because she's a girl and then becomes useful as a pawn to ensure diplomatic ties between countries. We've heard about this in the real world, we've heard about this in fiction.
But Suldrun's Garden, is an amazing book. It begins in Lyonesse and I was immediately drawn in to the story about the princess with an indifferent father and mother, with only her wet nurse caring about her. How she grew up in this rather hostile environment and only become interesting to her father when he realized he could marry her away and thereby ensure an ally for his kingdom.
The man, Faude Carfilhiot, he decides to marry her off to, however, is a somewhat magician, and Suldrun feels that something is off and refuses. Her father therefore banishes her to an old garden, where she must remain till she will obey his will and behave like a proper princess, for the best for her country.
One night though, a man is carried by the waves to the garden, almost drowned. Suldrun nurtures him back to life and they fall in love. The man is Prince Aillas, from Troicinet, a country that Lyoness is at war with. Suldrun and Aillas marry in an old ceremony and Suldrun becomes pregnant. The two plan to flee to ensure their and their baby's future - this, however, is thwarted. Prince Aillas is put in a hole in the ground to die.
Suldrun gives the child, a baby boy, to her old wet nurse who hides it away. But the child is discovered and Suldrun's father wants to bring it home.
But the child he brings home, is a girl, Madouc, a fairy changeling.
For the rest of the book, we follow Aillas trying to rescue their son Dhrun from the fairies as well as see the relationships between the various countries strain or prosper. We also follow several magicians since this is a time of magic, of unicorns and fairies, of ogres and trolls.
All these various story lines come together come together beautifully in the end and it's a marvelous story, a fairy tale for adults.
There are definitely some harsh scenes - some very nasty torture scene, a suicide and more. These are however written so sparingly that for the most part I had to go back and re-read them to make sure that what I thought had happened, really did happen. People were not kind to each other back then!
But the most of the book is just captivating, engrossing and beautiful. I hadn't expected to enjoy this so much and I'm looking forward to continue with the next two books in the series.
Here is a quote from the book to try and show what makes it so special: "What are dreams? Ordinary experience is a dream. The eyes, the ears, the nose: they present pictures on the brain, and these pictures are called "reality". At night, when we dream, other pictures, of source unknown, are impinged. Sometimes the dream-images are more real than "reality". Which is solid, which illusion? Why trouble to make the distinction?" (p. 262) - as a philosopher, having read Descartes, I love this! No need to bother with trying to discover which is 'real', they both are.
Here's an example of a conversation (between Suldrun and Carfilhiot): 'You do not enjoy the admiration of men?' 'I have done nothing admirable.' 'Nor has a rose, nor a sapphire of many facets.' 'They are ornaments; they have no life of their own.' (p. 61).
I didn't know of Lyonesse before reading this book but Lyonesse is a part of Arthurian legend and is especially known to be the home of Tristan and Iseult. It's part of celtic myth along with countries such as Ys (also mentioned in this book) and is said to have sunken beneath the waves at one point, which is why some have compared it to Atlantis.
4 stars.
The Green Pearl
The main focus in this book is actually two story lines. First of, it's king Aillas' attempt to establish himsefs as king of all of Ulfland. Second, it's king Casmir's attempt to find out who princess Suldrun's child really is.
Aillas as a new king has several challenges - one of them is dealing with the barons of Ulfland who fights with each other, captures and tortures and kills. Another is dealing with the Ska who has invaded parts of Ulfland.
King Casmir had a magicial mirror tell him a prediction about princess Suldrun's son which confuses him since he thought the princess Madouc was Suldrun's child. So he starts to investigate and hires the magician Visbhume to investigate. Visbhume spares nothing to figure out the truth and soon he's on the trail of prince Dhrun and princess Gwyneth. But since no one wants to really tell him, he ends up tricking Gwyneth into another world, another reality.
Of course, there are several smaller story lines in this epic book as well. We follow the green pearl which was released when Faude Carfilhiot was killed in the first book in the series. It brings some luck - but the luck is short lived and the pearl always end up turning on it's owner.
Tied into the story of the green pearl, is always the story of the magicians. I love how one of the magicians, Murgen, has decreed that no magician should intervene in events because then they would get out of hand and the magicians would end up facing off against each other. Of course - they don't hold true to this and the two best magicians, Murgen and Tamarello, have smaller magicians they can get to do work for them so they don't necessarily come face to face.
Another side story is the story of how king Casmir's wife, queen Sollace, tries to bring Christianity to Lyonesse with the aid of the (very annoying) monk Father Umphred who played a key role when princess Suldrun and Aillas were discovered and then torn apart in the first book and who now wants king Casmir to build a cathedral - and maybe have a secret that the king will pay to learn. This is interesting, not only for it's place in the bigger story but also because of the conflict between christianity and the old beliefs, the pagan, celtic and magicial beliefs. King Casmir has his room filled with magic elements, he has contact to the magician Tamarello and he doesn't want to see any of the Lyonesse wealth sent to Rome and he dislikes Father Umphred.
This is another great story. So many of the classical fairytale elements in the story alongside myth, romance and war and it's just beautifully written and very engaging. Even though this book feels like the classic 2 which basically is a bridge between volume 1 and 3, this is still a really great book. So far, I'm just in love with this entire series.
4 stars.
Madouc
I had high hopes for this final volume in what so far had been an amazing series - and it didn't disappoint. This is such a great trilogy, truly a fantastic read.
The main character in this volume, is the princess Madouc. The fairy changeling who was raised by King Casmir and Queen Sollace in the belief that she was princess Suldrun's daughter. In this book, Madouc really come to life and she's a very interesting character to read about. She is a lot like Suldrun, not very princess-like but a bit more tomboy in her ways, and Casmir and Sollace have learned nothing by their failure with Suldrun. The only complaint I have about these books, is the lack of love and affection that Casmir and Sollace had for Suldrun - and now for Madouc. Of course, Casmir learns that she is not his grandchild rather early in this volume - but still, after raising her for so many years, just a bit of affection would be realistic. On the other hand, it doesn't feel out of character. He seems like a man driven by his affection only and as we saw with Suldrun, he only starts to think about Madouc seriously, when he thinks he can use her to further his political interests.
Sollace, on the other hand, is a very non-caring mother. She only cares about her faith and building a cathedral that can make her a saint. When she is involved with Madouc, it's only because others complain so much about her that she can't ignore it.
They try to mold Madouc into being a proper princess - but just as Suldrun did, Madouc rejects it. Suldrun got tucked away in a garden, Madouc takes it upon herself to find her pedigree, that is her father, after she quite by chance discovers that her mother is a fairy. She ventures out on a quest for this - a quest that also involves the holy grail.
Meanwhile, king Casmir discovers who Suldrun's child really is and starts plotting to get prince Dhrun to fulfill a prophecy so he can afterwards be killed off and King Casmir can fulfill his dream of ruling over all of the Elder Isles.
Much happens in this book - and Vance masterly keeps it all together and creates a stunning finale to this compelling and engaging series. I was sad to see it all end and immediately searched to see if there wasn't further novels in this series - alas, no.
5 stars.
This is one of the best series I've read in a long while - and three of the best books. It reminds me a lot of Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell which I also loved. Besides these fascinating people you live with and love, it has all the best fairytale elements. I'm fascinated by faeries - these beautiful creatures that are wicked or generous, depending on their moods. And there's a lot of faeries in this book. But despite all these fantastical elements - faeries, trolls, ogres - the book feels real, the people in it feels real - and how I wish, I could read more about them. You care for the characters and feel for them when they suffer and their plights feel real - even though, of course, it's not in the everyday for most people (!) to fight trolls, search for your fairy mother or quest for the holy grail. But Vance still makes this feel real - maybe because we know of these stories from our childhood fairytales. This is definitely a fairytale - and it's definitely not for children with sex, violence, torture - but it's an amazing trilogy and I can't recommend it enough.
Suldrun's Garden
In some ways, this is a strange book. After reading it, and thinking about the story, you're kind of wondering why you were so caught up in this, given that it's a rather well-known and simple story, a story that has been told so many times before about a princess who is useless because she's a girl and then becomes useful as a pawn to ensure diplomatic ties between countries. We've heard about this in the real world, we've heard about this in fiction.
But Suldrun's Garden, is an amazing book. It begins in Lyonesse and I was immediately drawn in to the story about the princess with an indifferent father and mother, with only her wet nurse caring about her. How she grew up in this rather hostile environment and only become interesting to her father when he realized he could marry her away and thereby ensure an ally for his kingdom.
The man, Faude Carfilhiot, he decides to marry her off to, however, is a somewhat magician, and Suldrun feels that something is off and refuses. Her father therefore banishes her to an old garden, where she must remain till she will obey his will and behave like a proper princess, for the best for her country.
One night though, a man is carried by the waves to the garden, almost drowned. Suldrun nurtures him back to life and they fall in love. The man is Prince Aillas, from Troicinet, a country that Lyoness is at war with. Suldrun and Aillas marry in an old ceremony and Suldrun becomes pregnant. The two plan to flee to ensure their and their baby's future - this, however, is thwarted. Prince Aillas is put in a hole in the ground to die.
Suldrun gives the child, a baby boy, to her old wet nurse who hides it away. But the child is discovered and Suldrun's father wants to bring it home.
But the child he brings home, is a girl, Madouc, a fairy changeling.
For the rest of the book, we follow Aillas trying to rescue their son Dhrun from the fairies as well as see the relationships between the various countries strain or prosper. We also follow several magicians since this is a time of magic, of unicorns and fairies, of ogres and trolls.
All these various story lines come together come together beautifully in the end and it's a marvelous story, a fairy tale for adults.
There are definitely some harsh scenes - some very nasty torture scene, a suicide and more. These are however written so sparingly that for the most part I had to go back and re-read them to make sure that what I thought had happened, really did happen. People were not kind to each other back then!
But the most of the book is just captivating, engrossing and beautiful. I hadn't expected to enjoy this so much and I'm looking forward to continue with the next two books in the series.
Here is a quote from the book to try and show what makes it so special: "What are dreams? Ordinary experience is a dream. The eyes, the ears, the nose: they present pictures on the brain, and these pictures are called "reality". At night, when we dream, other pictures, of source unknown, are impinged. Sometimes the dream-images are more real than "reality". Which is solid, which illusion? Why trouble to make the distinction?" (p. 262) - as a philosopher, having read Descartes, I love this! No need to bother with trying to discover which is 'real', they both are.
Here's an example of a conversation (between Suldrun and Carfilhiot): 'You do not enjoy the admiration of men?' 'I have done nothing admirable.' 'Nor has a rose, nor a sapphire of many facets.' 'They are ornaments; they have no life of their own.' (p. 61).
I didn't know of Lyonesse before reading this book but Lyonesse is a part of Arthurian legend and is especially known to be the home of Tristan and Iseult. It's part of celtic myth along with countries such as Ys (also mentioned in this book) and is said to have sunken beneath the waves at one point, which is why some have compared it to Atlantis.
4 stars.
The Green Pearl
The main focus in this book is actually two story lines. First of, it's king Aillas' attempt to establish himsefs as king of all of Ulfland. Second, it's king Casmir's attempt to find out who princess Suldrun's child really is.
Aillas as a new king has several challenges - one of them is dealing with the barons of Ulfland who fights with each other, captures and tortures and kills. Another is dealing with the Ska who has invaded parts of Ulfland.
King Casmir had a magicial mirror tell him a prediction about princess Suldrun's son which confuses him since he thought the princess Madouc was Suldrun's child. So he starts to investigate and hires the magician Visbhume to investigate. Visbhume spares nothing to figure out the truth and soon he's on the trail of prince Dhrun and princess Gwyneth. But since no one wants to really tell him, he ends up tricking Gwyneth into another world, another reality.
Of course, there are several smaller story lines in this epic book as well. We follow the green pearl which was released when Faude Carfilhiot was killed in the first book in the series. It brings some luck - but the luck is short lived and the pearl always end up turning on it's owner.
Tied into the story of the green pearl, is always the story of the magicians. I love how one of the magicians, Murgen, has decreed that no magician should intervene in events because then they would get out of hand and the magicians would end up facing off against each other. Of course - they don't hold true to this and the two best magicians, Murgen and Tamarello, have smaller magicians they can get to do work for them so they don't necessarily come face to face.
Another side story is the story of how king Casmir's wife, queen Sollace, tries to bring Christianity to Lyonesse with the aid of the (very annoying) monk Father Umphred who played a key role when princess Suldrun and Aillas were discovered and then torn apart in the first book and who now wants king Casmir to build a cathedral - and maybe have a secret that the king will pay to learn. This is interesting, not only for it's place in the bigger story but also because of the conflict between christianity and the old beliefs, the pagan, celtic and magicial beliefs. King Casmir has his room filled with magic elements, he has contact to the magician Tamarello and he doesn't want to see any of the Lyonesse wealth sent to Rome and he dislikes Father Umphred.
This is another great story. So many of the classical fairytale elements in the story alongside myth, romance and war and it's just beautifully written and very engaging. Even though this book feels like the classic 2 which basically is a bridge between volume 1 and 3, this is still a really great book. So far, I'm just in love with this entire series.
4 stars.
Madouc
I had high hopes for this final volume in what so far had been an amazing series - and it didn't disappoint. This is such a great trilogy, truly a fantastic read.
The main character in this volume, is the princess Madouc. The fairy changeling who was raised by King Casmir and Queen Sollace in the belief that she was princess Suldrun's daughter. In this book, Madouc really come to life and she's a very interesting character to read about. She is a lot like Suldrun, not very princess-like but a bit more tomboy in her ways, and Casmir and Sollace have learned nothing by their failure with Suldrun. The only complaint I have about these books, is the lack of love and affection that Casmir and Sollace had for Suldrun - and now for Madouc. Of course, Casmir learns that she is not his grandchild rather early in this volume - but still, after raising her for so many years, just a bit of affection would be realistic. On the other hand, it doesn't feel out of character. He seems like a man driven by his affection only and as we saw with Suldrun, he only starts to think about Madouc seriously, when he thinks he can use her to further his political interests.
Sollace, on the other hand, is a very non-caring mother. She only cares about her faith and building a cathedral that can make her a saint. When she is involved with Madouc, it's only because others complain so much about her that she can't ignore it.
They try to mold Madouc into being a proper princess - but just as Suldrun did, Madouc rejects it. Suldrun got tucked away in a garden, Madouc takes it upon herself to find her pedigree, that is her father, after she quite by chance discovers that her mother is a fairy. She ventures out on a quest for this - a quest that also involves the holy grail.
Meanwhile, king Casmir discovers who Suldrun's child really is and starts plotting to get prince Dhrun to fulfill a prophecy so he can afterwards be killed off and King Casmir can fulfill his dream of ruling over all of the Elder Isles.
Much happens in this book - and Vance masterly keeps it all together and creates a stunning finale to this compelling and engaging series. I was sad to see it all end and immediately searched to see if there wasn't further novels in this series - alas, no.
5 stars.
This is one of the best series I've read in a long while - and three of the best books. It reminds me a lot of Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell which I also loved. Besides these fascinating people you live with and love, it has all the best fairytale elements. I'm fascinated by faeries - these beautiful creatures that are wicked or generous, depending on their moods. And there's a lot of faeries in this book. But despite all these fantastical elements - faeries, trolls, ogres - the book feels real, the people in it feels real - and how I wish, I could read more about them. You care for the characters and feel for them when they suffer and their plights feel real - even though, of course, it's not in the everyday for most people (!) to fight trolls, search for your fairy mother or quest for the holy grail. But Vance still makes this feel real - maybe because we know of these stories from our childhood fairytales. This is definitely a fairytale - and it's definitely not for children with sex, violence, torture - but it's an amazing trilogy and I can't recommend it enough.
June 18, 2015
Holy smokes this is incredibly well written! I wish I could give this more praise than I have words or time for because it's worthy. Lyonesse is written with whimsy and a simplistic plot, a linear thing, a mosaic of different episodes and fairy-tale chapters. It's a celebration of wit, humor and the old stories that many of us grew up on. Should be read for the dialogue alone!
March 27, 2025
Sicuramente una bella saga. Vance si prende tutto il tempo per far decollare la storia. Inizialmente si ha l'impressione di trovarsi davanti alla semplice favoletta ma andando avanti non sarà così. Con stile classico Vance ci trasporta in regni dove assistiamo a lotte di potere, intrighi e alleanze. Non manca la magia. Considerando gli anni in cui sono stati scritti i romanzi è una magia più semplice rispetto a come viene intesa nei romanzi di oggi. La pecca purtroppo l'ho trovata nel finale che ho trovato troppo frettoloso. Questo però me lo aspettavo, avevo già letto opere di Vance e avevo notato questa sua caratteristica. Opere molto belle, molto lunghe con finali troppo veloci.
June 19, 2015
I was absolutely in love with every line of this trilogy. When it is not casting a spell over you with its idyllic scenery and dream-like prose it is amusing you with its wry scenes of bickering merchants and petty squabbles.
It had more of a solid story and arc to it compared to Vance's other masterpiece "Tales of the Dying Earth". That series had brain-melting imagination seeping out of every page, but no real sense of plot or character. Lyonesse has proper characters and a solid story to pull you in. I'm not sure which is better overall... Lyonesse is more engrossing and more accessible but Dying Earth is more impressive. Either way, both series are utterly fantastic.
I loved both Jack Vance books I've read so far and would strongly recommend them to anyone who has enjoyed fantasy or humorous writing.
It had more of a solid story and arc to it compared to Vance's other masterpiece "Tales of the Dying Earth". That series had brain-melting imagination seeping out of every page, but no real sense of plot or character. Lyonesse has proper characters and a solid story to pull you in. I'm not sure which is better overall... Lyonesse is more engrossing and more accessible but Dying Earth is more impressive. Either way, both series are utterly fantastic.
I loved both Jack Vance books I've read so far and would strongly recommend them to anyone who has enjoyed fantasy or humorous writing.
July 28, 2022
Phenomenal. 1,000 pages of high fantasy, fairies and fairy tells, kings and princesses and wars, wizards and adventures. I would give it six stars if I could. I'm not good at describing how good this is. If you've never read any Vance this is a great place to start; it's arguably even better than The Dying Earth omnibus. Maybe a little less flat out hilarious than the adventures of Cugel, but this is a much more fully realized work, with a substantial number of viewpoint characters and a through plot over the 1,000 pages. Just fantastic.
September 3, 2021
DNF. I have a problem with a book that refers to a girl under 10 years old as having “firm young buttocks” and sexualizes her. It didn’t happen just once either. I probably could have overlooked that.
Guess I will try Dying Earth instead.
Guess I will try Dying Earth instead.
April 12, 2011
I've reviewed these separately at FanLit. http://www.fantasyliterature.com/fant...
May 30, 2024
The Complete Lyonesse (Lyonesse #1-3)
This omnibus edition includes all three of Jack Vance's Lyonesse series novels: Suldrun's Garden, The Green Pearl and Madouc. These are fantasy novels rather than science fiction. All three are outstanding and are very highly recommended.
For the most recent review and other Vance reviews please see:
https://vancealotjackvanceinreview.bl...
Suldrun's Garden, Lyonesse I
Suldrun's Garden was first published as a paperback novel in 1983. It is currently in print in a Spatterlight paperback edition and is also available as an eBook. My out of print copy has 439 pages of text, making this one of Vance's longer works. It is not science fiction but classic fantasy. This is the second time I've read it in recent years, and I rated it a 5 both times. All three novels in the Lyonesse trilogy are fascinating, magical masterpieces of the highest order. They are highly recommended not simply to Vance fans but to any open minded, literate and intelligent readers of fiction. This is creativity and imagination at its peak.
The setting is on Earth in the Elder Isles a string of islands that run from near northern France extending up toward Ireland. The Elder Isles are currently divided into ten kingdoms that either cooperate or compete with other Elder Isles kingdoms for survival or control. Ireland, Britain, Amorica, Aquitaine and Galicia are nearby countries The time depicted seems to be in the Middle Ages. Knights and a Round Table are mentioned and jousting is just becoming popular.
The powerful and ambitious King Casmir, the current ruler of Lyonesse, wants to conquer or gain control of all other kingdoms in the Elder Isles so that he can be king of all the isles. King Audry II of Dahaut and King Granice of Troicinet represent his main opposition. Troicinet is a lone island and has a powerful navy to protect itself but does not have a large enough army to fight Lyonesse on land. King Granice of Troicinet tries to maintain the balance and the peace by offering to come to the aid of any kingdom that is attacked. Of course he knows that the only real threat is King Casmir, but he makes this offer to every kingdom to appear neutral. Casmir wants to attack Dahaut but the threat of the Troicinet navy aiding Dahaut means he would have to fight on two fronts. Political intrigue, negotiations, manipulations, power plays and alliances abound.
Wanting an heir, King Casmir is very disappointed when his first born child turns out to be female. "She had thwarted his royal will by coming female into the world." His wife, Queen Sollace, is as self serving and ambitious as the king so after naming their daughter Suldrun, her parents mostly ignore her. When Suldrun is eight years old her brother, Prince Cassander, is born and is destined to be the eventual king of Lyonesse. Suldrun's main value to the king is for him to marry her to a prince or king of another kingdom to gain an alliance. When Suldrun turns fourteen years old she is considered marriageable, and her father begins making arrangements to marry her off to his own best advantage. But Suldrun does not want to marry a stranger or anybody she does not like so she refuses to cooperate with the king. For defying her father's wishes she is confined to a small area of the castle that includes her garden. The garden is secluded and walled in except for a section bordering on the sea. This is Suldrun's garden (thus the title of the book) and it is as much a refuge as a prison.
How Princess Suldrun of Lyonesse, confined to her garden, meets Prince Aillas of Troicinet and what transpires between them I will leave to the reader to discover. But Suldrun and her garden are only the beginning of the epic adventure that continues with several fascinating story lines, many interesting characters and an engaging, imaginative, intriguing plot that can enthrall the reader with its novelty and inventiveness.
In some ways Suldrun's Garden reads like a very well written, engaging historical novel. Vance does not simply create a fantasy world for us to immerse ourselves in. He does it in such a way that the characters, places and events seem real. The setting is on Earth and many countries we would recognize are mentioned along with Plato, the Goths, the ancient Greeks and Phoenicians and other historical persons and nations. Vance integrates them in such a matter of fact way that it all seems real and factual. Vance also frequently turns an interesting or clever phrase to cause the reader to smile and to return again to savor it a second time. But it is not only his magical use of language, it is the also the magic his language creates. Vance is a master wordsmith with an incredible imagination who uses his skills to create worlds, societies and characters who can fascinate readers. His great sense of humor adds to the interest and fun.
All three novels are filled with magic and magical beings. Fairies, witches, wizards and sandestins play major roles. (There are also falloys, goblins, imps, giants, ogres, trolls, merrihews, willawens, hyslops, quists, and darklings.) In addition we have many other colorfully portrayed fantasy characters. There is Arbogast who kidnaps and enslaves children and sometimes has them, "stuffed with onions, trussed and spitted, roasted over fire." There is the deadly swamp monster called a heceptor and a dire witch who takes over the body of younger people to maintain her youth. Plus we have the old woman with a fox's head and chicken's legs who will kill you if you assist her, a pair of bearded gryphs who will interrupt their chess game to kill you if you don't offer them combs of honey, a guardian raven who drops a feather to topple a boulder on the head of those who try to pass and a magic mirror called Persillian. These numerous fantasy creatures are combined with kings, queens, princes, princesses, knights, bandits, inn keepers, traveling entertainers, peasant farmers and many more realistic characters who interact with the fantasy creatures and magic as if it is an ordinary part of their daily affairs. There is also the mixture of real and surreal such as the mad King Deuel who sponsors Grand Galas where everybody in his kingdom must dress as birds and Doctor Fidelius: Grand Gnostic, Seer, Magician and Healer of Sore Knees who also is known as Dr. Fidelius: Thaumaturge, Pan-sophist, Mountebank. It all combines to create a fascinating, creative hybrid world of medieval Earth intertwined with Vance's imagination fantasy world. I loved this novel both times I read it and plan to read it again in a few years. Very highly recommended!
The Green Pearl Lyonesse II
The Green Pearl was first published in 1985 as a hardcover novel. It is currently in print as a trade paperback or hardcover from Spatterlight Press and in a Kindle edition. My out of print hardcover copy has 408 pages of text. In the past few years I have read this twice and rated it a 5 both times. The Green Pearl is the second book in the Lyonesse trilogy, and I highly recommend it and all three books in the trilogy. Although I rated all three novels a 5, I found each one to be even more engaging than its predecessor. Each is a wonderfully written, very engaging, highly creative fantasy novel that totally enveloped me in a fascinating other world.
The setting continues to be in the Elder Isles, a string of islands that run from near northern France extending up toward southern Ireland. The Elder Isles are currently divided into ten kingdoms that either cooperate or compete with other Elder Isles kingdoms for survival or control. The time depicted seems to be in the Middle Ages. The powerful and ambitious King Casmir, the current ruler of Lyonesse, wants to conquer or gain control of all other kingdoms in the Elder Isles so that he can be king of all the isles. King Audry II of Dahaut and King Granice of Troicinet have been his main opposition. After King Granice's death his son Aillas becomes king and continues the same policy of trying to keep Casmir in check.
The Green Pearl picks up where Suldrun's Garden left off. In the previous novel a green mist came out of Carfilhiot's body after he was executed and made its way to the sea where it manifested itself as a unique green pearl that was subsequently swallowed by a large flounder. In the Green Pearl a fisherman catches the flounder and discovers the pearl. A subplot follows the valuable pearl as it exchanges hands causing each owner to engage in excessive behavior before coming to a tragic end. Eventually the beautiful pearl comes to the attention of Tamurello, a powerful wizard, who covets it and goes to great efforts to obtain it, although he ends up with much more than he bargained for.
In another subplot the wizard Tamurello meets with a sorcerer named Vishuume to plot revenge against King Aillas and another wizard named Shimrod who tries to protect Aillas. Tamurello supports King Casmir even though all wizards are prohibited from becoming involved in politics. He also has a vendetta against Aillas because Aillas hanged Tamurello's lover. In addition Tamurello conspires to overthrow Murgen, the most powerful wizard on the Elder Isles who is closely allied with Shimrod. Their plan leads to the kidnapping of Princess Glyneth of Troicinet after she follows a magnificent butterfly into a cottage in the forest. Once she enters the cottage she is transported to another dimension where the bizarre world of Tanjecterly is encountered. Neither Aillas nor Shimrod can enter the world of Tanjecterly to rescue her or they will be lost forever. But Murgen has a plan and creates a hybrid creature from a strange humanoid called a syaspic feroce, combined with a dead pirate called Kul the Killer, and mixed with some blood from King Aillas. (Aillas blood is added to the mixture so the creature created will have his love for Glyneth and other higher level character qualities.) Murgen sends this creature they call Kul to Tanjecterly to rescue Glyneth. There we encounter the bizarre world of Tanjecterly with its very strange inhabitants including Zaxa, "a hybrid creature half-man and half-hespid batrache, with arms like baulks of timber", two legged wolves that hop like kangaroos and will suck blood from a person's chest "through the rasping orifices in the palms of its forepaws", Progressive Goblin Eels that carry spears and cook humans and other creatures in a boiling pot, and many other fantastical creatures and exotic settings.
King Aillas in the meantime becomes the king of South Ulfland after the old king dies. As their new king he tries to unite the barons of South Ulfland who have been fighting feuds with each other instead of defending themselves against the invading Ska who claim to be at war with everyone. (The Ska were originally expelled from Norway and then Ireland and are a fierce, highly disciplined, militarized people who want to conquer all of Elder Isles.) King Casmir is angry that Aillas is now king of South Ulfland as well as Troicinet so he tries to undermine Aillas rule by sending a talented spy to South Ulfland to spread false rumors detrimental to Aillas. He also sends a notorious Ska named Torqual who creates an outlaw gang that creates turmoil and instigates conflicts between the barons. The Ska army meanwhile increases its aggression toward South Ulfland so that Aillas is forced to respond in order to maintain respect as the king. During one of the battles with the Ska, Aillas becomes separated from his troops and then lost after riding to capture a Ska woman of nobility who was part of the household that once enslaved Aillas. Initially he intends to make her a slave the way her family did with him, but he learns that she is not the idealized person he had imagined and loses interest in her. Aillas is soon reunited with his troops, and his strategy for combating the Ska continues to be very effective and successful.
There are so many interesting adventures, encounters, subplots, characters and scenes that only a few can be briefly mentioned in a review. The novel is infused with a tremendous amount of creativity and imagination, and it was difficult to put down each time I read it. The Green Pearl is very well written, extremely engaging, highly interesting and one of the most enjoyable novels I've ever encountered. I look forward to reading it and the other two Lyonesse novels yet again a few years from now.
Madouc, Lyonesse III
Madouc was first published in 1989 as a hardcover novel. It is currently in print in a trade paperback edition published by Spatterlight Press. There is also a Kindle edition available. My out of print paperback edition has 535 pages of text. Madouc is the third novel in a Vance trilogy called Lyonesse and is also referred to as Lyonesse III. This is the second time I've read it in recent years, and I rated it a 5 both times. Lyonesse: Madouc won the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel in 1990. It is pure fantasy rather than science fiction. I consider it a masterpiece and one of the most engaging and interesting fantasy novels I have ever read. I found all three Lyonesse novels to be witty, imaginative, creative and captivating and highly recommended them.
Madouc is similar to the other Lyonesse novels in that there are many fascinating characters that are well developed, with multiple intriguing subplots, amazing world building, imaginative stories and tales, engaging adventures, and many comical dialogs and situations. Character development is especially prominent in Lyonesse: Madouc which has a major focus on the young, half fairy woman called Princess Madouc. She was brought to the Lyonesse court because King Casmir believed she was the child of his daughter Princess Suldrun and an unknown father. When he later learns that she is not his grandchild he does not disclose this to anybody because he wants to marry Madouc to royalty from another kingdom to assist in gaining alliances. But he finds that Madouc is opposed to such plans just as his daughter Suldrun was. Unlike Suldrun, however, Madouc has a strong sense of self determination, with a feistiness and vigor that make her a formidable opponent. She does not become remote and withdrawn the way Suldrun did but strikes out on a quest to find the truth of her parentage and even bravely and cleverly confronts King Casmir in front of royalty from other kingdoms. In one humorous section she even throws rotten fruit at several people she dislikes.
Madouc's search for her "pedigree" takes her on a fantastic quest that also includes her friend, Sir Pom Pom (She calls him Sir Pom Pom even though he is a stable boy) and his search for the Holy Grail and a stranger they meet named Travante who is searching for his lost youth. It is a fascinating and adventurous journey of self discovery, bravery and perseverance. Vance presents a remarkably detailed and creative picture of a fairy world called Thripsey Shee where Madouc meets her mother and engages the assistance of her mother and the fairy king in attempting to identify her father. After learning that her father called himself Sir Pellinore, she continues on to a dangerous but sometimes comical trek where they encounter two hostile goblin knights riding griffins and a three headed ogre named Throop who lives in a castle. Throop could know what happened to Madouc's father, might have possession of the Holy Grail and possibly (although the prospects are unlikely) knows the whereabouts of Travante's missing youth. Even though all three of Throop's heads would rather eat his guests than talk with them, the three heads are intrigued by the offer of gifts so, after discussing it, they decide to restrain their appetites.
There is much more to the novel, including an attempt to assassinate a king and all out war that involves much of the Elder Isles. Vance eventually ties all of the subplots, storylines, events and characters together in a fitting conclusion that I found very satisfying. But all three novels need to be read in order to fully appreciate the whole saga and rereading the trilogy is helpful because there are so many details and so much that happens in these novels.
The Lyonesse trilogy has incredible world building, many interesting developed characters, intriguing plots, subplots and encounters, brilliant, often witty, dialog, hilarious humor that is cleverly integrated into the drama, a very captivating storyline and an tremendous amount of creativity and imagination. Jack Vance is truly a phenomenal and unique voice in recorded literature. Very highly recommended!
This omnibus edition includes all three of Jack Vance's Lyonesse series novels: Suldrun's Garden, The Green Pearl and Madouc. These are fantasy novels rather than science fiction. All three are outstanding and are very highly recommended.
For the most recent review and other Vance reviews please see:
https://vancealotjackvanceinreview.bl...
Suldrun's Garden, Lyonesse I
Suldrun's Garden was first published as a paperback novel in 1983. It is currently in print in a Spatterlight paperback edition and is also available as an eBook. My out of print copy has 439 pages of text, making this one of Vance's longer works. It is not science fiction but classic fantasy. This is the second time I've read it in recent years, and I rated it a 5 both times. All three novels in the Lyonesse trilogy are fascinating, magical masterpieces of the highest order. They are highly recommended not simply to Vance fans but to any open minded, literate and intelligent readers of fiction. This is creativity and imagination at its peak.
The setting is on Earth in the Elder Isles a string of islands that run from near northern France extending up toward Ireland. The Elder Isles are currently divided into ten kingdoms that either cooperate or compete with other Elder Isles kingdoms for survival or control. Ireland, Britain, Amorica, Aquitaine and Galicia are nearby countries The time depicted seems to be in the Middle Ages. Knights and a Round Table are mentioned and jousting is just becoming popular.
The powerful and ambitious King Casmir, the current ruler of Lyonesse, wants to conquer or gain control of all other kingdoms in the Elder Isles so that he can be king of all the isles. King Audry II of Dahaut and King Granice of Troicinet represent his main opposition. Troicinet is a lone island and has a powerful navy to protect itself but does not have a large enough army to fight Lyonesse on land. King Granice of Troicinet tries to maintain the balance and the peace by offering to come to the aid of any kingdom that is attacked. Of course he knows that the only real threat is King Casmir, but he makes this offer to every kingdom to appear neutral. Casmir wants to attack Dahaut but the threat of the Troicinet navy aiding Dahaut means he would have to fight on two fronts. Political intrigue, negotiations, manipulations, power plays and alliances abound.
Wanting an heir, King Casmir is very disappointed when his first born child turns out to be female. "She had thwarted his royal will by coming female into the world." His wife, Queen Sollace, is as self serving and ambitious as the king so after naming their daughter Suldrun, her parents mostly ignore her. When Suldrun is eight years old her brother, Prince Cassander, is born and is destined to be the eventual king of Lyonesse. Suldrun's main value to the king is for him to marry her to a prince or king of another kingdom to gain an alliance. When Suldrun turns fourteen years old she is considered marriageable, and her father begins making arrangements to marry her off to his own best advantage. But Suldrun does not want to marry a stranger or anybody she does not like so she refuses to cooperate with the king. For defying her father's wishes she is confined to a small area of the castle that includes her garden. The garden is secluded and walled in except for a section bordering on the sea. This is Suldrun's garden (thus the title of the book) and it is as much a refuge as a prison.
How Princess Suldrun of Lyonesse, confined to her garden, meets Prince Aillas of Troicinet and what transpires between them I will leave to the reader to discover. But Suldrun and her garden are only the beginning of the epic adventure that continues with several fascinating story lines, many interesting characters and an engaging, imaginative, intriguing plot that can enthrall the reader with its novelty and inventiveness.
In some ways Suldrun's Garden reads like a very well written, engaging historical novel. Vance does not simply create a fantasy world for us to immerse ourselves in. He does it in such a way that the characters, places and events seem real. The setting is on Earth and many countries we would recognize are mentioned along with Plato, the Goths, the ancient Greeks and Phoenicians and other historical persons and nations. Vance integrates them in such a matter of fact way that it all seems real and factual. Vance also frequently turns an interesting or clever phrase to cause the reader to smile and to return again to savor it a second time. But it is not only his magical use of language, it is the also the magic his language creates. Vance is a master wordsmith with an incredible imagination who uses his skills to create worlds, societies and characters who can fascinate readers. His great sense of humor adds to the interest and fun.
All three novels are filled with magic and magical beings. Fairies, witches, wizards and sandestins play major roles. (There are also falloys, goblins, imps, giants, ogres, trolls, merrihews, willawens, hyslops, quists, and darklings.) In addition we have many other colorfully portrayed fantasy characters. There is Arbogast who kidnaps and enslaves children and sometimes has them, "stuffed with onions, trussed and spitted, roasted over fire." There is the deadly swamp monster called a heceptor and a dire witch who takes over the body of younger people to maintain her youth. Plus we have the old woman with a fox's head and chicken's legs who will kill you if you assist her, a pair of bearded gryphs who will interrupt their chess game to kill you if you don't offer them combs of honey, a guardian raven who drops a feather to topple a boulder on the head of those who try to pass and a magic mirror called Persillian. These numerous fantasy creatures are combined with kings, queens, princes, princesses, knights, bandits, inn keepers, traveling entertainers, peasant farmers and many more realistic characters who interact with the fantasy creatures and magic as if it is an ordinary part of their daily affairs. There is also the mixture of real and surreal such as the mad King Deuel who sponsors Grand Galas where everybody in his kingdom must dress as birds and Doctor Fidelius: Grand Gnostic, Seer, Magician and Healer of Sore Knees who also is known as Dr. Fidelius: Thaumaturge, Pan-sophist, Mountebank. It all combines to create a fascinating, creative hybrid world of medieval Earth intertwined with Vance's imagination fantasy world. I loved this novel both times I read it and plan to read it again in a few years. Very highly recommended!
The Green Pearl Lyonesse II
The Green Pearl was first published in 1985 as a hardcover novel. It is currently in print as a trade paperback or hardcover from Spatterlight Press and in a Kindle edition. My out of print hardcover copy has 408 pages of text. In the past few years I have read this twice and rated it a 5 both times. The Green Pearl is the second book in the Lyonesse trilogy, and I highly recommend it and all three books in the trilogy. Although I rated all three novels a 5, I found each one to be even more engaging than its predecessor. Each is a wonderfully written, very engaging, highly creative fantasy novel that totally enveloped me in a fascinating other world.
The setting continues to be in the Elder Isles, a string of islands that run from near northern France extending up toward southern Ireland. The Elder Isles are currently divided into ten kingdoms that either cooperate or compete with other Elder Isles kingdoms for survival or control. The time depicted seems to be in the Middle Ages. The powerful and ambitious King Casmir, the current ruler of Lyonesse, wants to conquer or gain control of all other kingdoms in the Elder Isles so that he can be king of all the isles. King Audry II of Dahaut and King Granice of Troicinet have been his main opposition. After King Granice's death his son Aillas becomes king and continues the same policy of trying to keep Casmir in check.
The Green Pearl picks up where Suldrun's Garden left off. In the previous novel a green mist came out of Carfilhiot's body after he was executed and made its way to the sea where it manifested itself as a unique green pearl that was subsequently swallowed by a large flounder. In the Green Pearl a fisherman catches the flounder and discovers the pearl. A subplot follows the valuable pearl as it exchanges hands causing each owner to engage in excessive behavior before coming to a tragic end. Eventually the beautiful pearl comes to the attention of Tamurello, a powerful wizard, who covets it and goes to great efforts to obtain it, although he ends up with much more than he bargained for.
In another subplot the wizard Tamurello meets with a sorcerer named Vishuume to plot revenge against King Aillas and another wizard named Shimrod who tries to protect Aillas. Tamurello supports King Casmir even though all wizards are prohibited from becoming involved in politics. He also has a vendetta against Aillas because Aillas hanged Tamurello's lover. In addition Tamurello conspires to overthrow Murgen, the most powerful wizard on the Elder Isles who is closely allied with Shimrod. Their plan leads to the kidnapping of Princess Glyneth of Troicinet after she follows a magnificent butterfly into a cottage in the forest. Once she enters the cottage she is transported to another dimension where the bizarre world of Tanjecterly is encountered. Neither Aillas nor Shimrod can enter the world of Tanjecterly to rescue her or they will be lost forever. But Murgen has a plan and creates a hybrid creature from a strange humanoid called a syaspic feroce, combined with a dead pirate called Kul the Killer, and mixed with some blood from King Aillas. (Aillas blood is added to the mixture so the creature created will have his love for Glyneth and other higher level character qualities.) Murgen sends this creature they call Kul to Tanjecterly to rescue Glyneth. There we encounter the bizarre world of Tanjecterly with its very strange inhabitants including Zaxa, "a hybrid creature half-man and half-hespid batrache, with arms like baulks of timber", two legged wolves that hop like kangaroos and will suck blood from a person's chest "through the rasping orifices in the palms of its forepaws", Progressive Goblin Eels that carry spears and cook humans and other creatures in a boiling pot, and many other fantastical creatures and exotic settings.
King Aillas in the meantime becomes the king of South Ulfland after the old king dies. As their new king he tries to unite the barons of South Ulfland who have been fighting feuds with each other instead of defending themselves against the invading Ska who claim to be at war with everyone. (The Ska were originally expelled from Norway and then Ireland and are a fierce, highly disciplined, militarized people who want to conquer all of Elder Isles.) King Casmir is angry that Aillas is now king of South Ulfland as well as Troicinet so he tries to undermine Aillas rule by sending a talented spy to South Ulfland to spread false rumors detrimental to Aillas. He also sends a notorious Ska named Torqual who creates an outlaw gang that creates turmoil and instigates conflicts between the barons. The Ska army meanwhile increases its aggression toward South Ulfland so that Aillas is forced to respond in order to maintain respect as the king. During one of the battles with the Ska, Aillas becomes separated from his troops and then lost after riding to capture a Ska woman of nobility who was part of the household that once enslaved Aillas. Initially he intends to make her a slave the way her family did with him, but he learns that she is not the idealized person he had imagined and loses interest in her. Aillas is soon reunited with his troops, and his strategy for combating the Ska continues to be very effective and successful.
There are so many interesting adventures, encounters, subplots, characters and scenes that only a few can be briefly mentioned in a review. The novel is infused with a tremendous amount of creativity and imagination, and it was difficult to put down each time I read it. The Green Pearl is very well written, extremely engaging, highly interesting and one of the most enjoyable novels I've ever encountered. I look forward to reading it and the other two Lyonesse novels yet again a few years from now.
Madouc, Lyonesse III
Madouc was first published in 1989 as a hardcover novel. It is currently in print in a trade paperback edition published by Spatterlight Press. There is also a Kindle edition available. My out of print paperback edition has 535 pages of text. Madouc is the third novel in a Vance trilogy called Lyonesse and is also referred to as Lyonesse III. This is the second time I've read it in recent years, and I rated it a 5 both times. Lyonesse: Madouc won the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel in 1990. It is pure fantasy rather than science fiction. I consider it a masterpiece and one of the most engaging and interesting fantasy novels I have ever read. I found all three Lyonesse novels to be witty, imaginative, creative and captivating and highly recommended them.
Madouc is similar to the other Lyonesse novels in that there are many fascinating characters that are well developed, with multiple intriguing subplots, amazing world building, imaginative stories and tales, engaging adventures, and many comical dialogs and situations. Character development is especially prominent in Lyonesse: Madouc which has a major focus on the young, half fairy woman called Princess Madouc. She was brought to the Lyonesse court because King Casmir believed she was the child of his daughter Princess Suldrun and an unknown father. When he later learns that she is not his grandchild he does not disclose this to anybody because he wants to marry Madouc to royalty from another kingdom to assist in gaining alliances. But he finds that Madouc is opposed to such plans just as his daughter Suldrun was. Unlike Suldrun, however, Madouc has a strong sense of self determination, with a feistiness and vigor that make her a formidable opponent. She does not become remote and withdrawn the way Suldrun did but strikes out on a quest to find the truth of her parentage and even bravely and cleverly confronts King Casmir in front of royalty from other kingdoms. In one humorous section she even throws rotten fruit at several people she dislikes.
Madouc's search for her "pedigree" takes her on a fantastic quest that also includes her friend, Sir Pom Pom (She calls him Sir Pom Pom even though he is a stable boy) and his search for the Holy Grail and a stranger they meet named Travante who is searching for his lost youth. It is a fascinating and adventurous journey of self discovery, bravery and perseverance. Vance presents a remarkably detailed and creative picture of a fairy world called Thripsey Shee where Madouc meets her mother and engages the assistance of her mother and the fairy king in attempting to identify her father. After learning that her father called himself Sir Pellinore, she continues on to a dangerous but sometimes comical trek where they encounter two hostile goblin knights riding griffins and a three headed ogre named Throop who lives in a castle. Throop could know what happened to Madouc's father, might have possession of the Holy Grail and possibly (although the prospects are unlikely) knows the whereabouts of Travante's missing youth. Even though all three of Throop's heads would rather eat his guests than talk with them, the three heads are intrigued by the offer of gifts so, after discussing it, they decide to restrain their appetites.
There is much more to the novel, including an attempt to assassinate a king and all out war that involves much of the Elder Isles. Vance eventually ties all of the subplots, storylines, events and characters together in a fitting conclusion that I found very satisfying. But all three novels need to be read in order to fully appreciate the whole saga and rereading the trilogy is helpful because there are so many details and so much that happens in these novels.
The Lyonesse trilogy has incredible world building, many interesting developed characters, intriguing plots, subplots and encounters, brilliant, often witty, dialog, hilarious humor that is cleverly integrated into the drama, a very captivating storyline and an tremendous amount of creativity and imagination. Jack Vance is truly a phenomenal and unique voice in recorded literature. Very highly recommended!
June 28, 2018
At various times, I wasn't really sure how to feel about this trilogy. But, by the end, I think I love it a great deal.
I think one of the biggest issues with this trilogy is that it's marketed as an epic fantasy, which puts you in the mode for something Tolkienesque or at least Moorcockian, but what Vance really creates here is a gigantic fairytale that blends myths, history, folktale, situational comedy, and the logic of fairytales. Even when Vance lands into realism, it's always teetering on the edge of the logic of fairytales and dreams. Of all epic fantasies, this probably reminds me most of The Wizard Knight by Gene Wolfe, which is interesting since it makes me see how much of Wolfe's work is influenced by Vance. We have the entire Book of the New Sun along with The Wizard Knight, which are probably Wolfe's best works.
The most pleasant surprise of the trilogy is how funny it is. I laughed aloud many times during these books, which is a rare, strange skill. Vance's scene construction is, at times, better than just about anyone. I think it's because he's so willing to dive deep into humor and absurdism while keeping a firm grip on realistic specificity, strong characterization, which sometimes collides headfirst with logic breaking moments.
Vance also sometimes condenses years or months in a paragraph while spending nearly 200 pages on a rather minor quest that takes place over the course of a few weeks. It reminds me of the strange time dilation of Patrick Rothfuss' unfinished trilogy. A seemingly inconsequential scene will stretch on for pages, purely because of the humor involved, whereas entire wars will take place over the course of a sentence.
It's a fascinating and bizarre and hilarious trilogy. It's sort of unlike anything else I've read. It reminds me of stories written centuries ago while also reminding me of sitcoms like Seinfeld, which is just an insane confluence of artistic modes. The hyperreal surrealism of Seinfeld mixed with the historomythic simplicity of the Prose Edda or Le Morte d'Arthur. It's utterly bizarre and takes a bit of getting used to, but this really is fantastic and rewarding.
It's about as far from the grimdark fad of the early 2000s as a trilogy can get. It's even unlike many of the epic fantasies that came out around the same time. The trilogy is often dark and brutal, as it includes things like rape, murder, war, etc, but it's also an extremely optimistic story that wraps up with a happy ending, much like a fairytale. Where things very suddenly work themselves out, almost without reason or precedent, and somehow that doesn't bother me here.
So, yes, highly recommended for fantasy fans looking for something completely different.
I think one of the biggest issues with this trilogy is that it's marketed as an epic fantasy, which puts you in the mode for something Tolkienesque or at least Moorcockian, but what Vance really creates here is a gigantic fairytale that blends myths, history, folktale, situational comedy, and the logic of fairytales. Even when Vance lands into realism, it's always teetering on the edge of the logic of fairytales and dreams. Of all epic fantasies, this probably reminds me most of The Wizard Knight by Gene Wolfe, which is interesting since it makes me see how much of Wolfe's work is influenced by Vance. We have the entire Book of the New Sun along with The Wizard Knight, which are probably Wolfe's best works.
The most pleasant surprise of the trilogy is how funny it is. I laughed aloud many times during these books, which is a rare, strange skill. Vance's scene construction is, at times, better than just about anyone. I think it's because he's so willing to dive deep into humor and absurdism while keeping a firm grip on realistic specificity, strong characterization, which sometimes collides headfirst with logic breaking moments.
Vance also sometimes condenses years or months in a paragraph while spending nearly 200 pages on a rather minor quest that takes place over the course of a few weeks. It reminds me of the strange time dilation of Patrick Rothfuss' unfinished trilogy. A seemingly inconsequential scene will stretch on for pages, purely because of the humor involved, whereas entire wars will take place over the course of a sentence.
It's a fascinating and bizarre and hilarious trilogy. It's sort of unlike anything else I've read. It reminds me of stories written centuries ago while also reminding me of sitcoms like Seinfeld, which is just an insane confluence of artistic modes. The hyperreal surrealism of Seinfeld mixed with the historomythic simplicity of the Prose Edda or Le Morte d'Arthur. It's utterly bizarre and takes a bit of getting used to, but this really is fantastic and rewarding.
It's about as far from the grimdark fad of the early 2000s as a trilogy can get. It's even unlike many of the epic fantasies that came out around the same time. The trilogy is often dark and brutal, as it includes things like rape, murder, war, etc, but it's also an extremely optimistic story that wraps up with a happy ending, much like a fairytale. Where things very suddenly work themselves out, almost without reason or precedent, and somehow that doesn't bother me here.
So, yes, highly recommended for fantasy fans looking for something completely different.
July 19, 2021
Ughhh I'm already so nostalgic for Vance's Elder Isles! The penultimate scene when Joald breaks partially loose broke my heart. What destruction! How epic!
Vance's world building throughout this series is incredible, just incredible. His archaic vocabulary and detailed aesthetic descriptions, the lavender soap with pine needles, the rosewater baths, the demons and magic and politics and bloodshed. The Ska! What a people! It's all too cool, and executed in Vance's singularly jocular, potent prose.
"Suldrun's Garden" perhaps begins a little slow with Princess Suldrun's childhood, but the world and character building throughout is off-the-charts awesome. The early scenes with Persilian the mirror, Aillas' stint in slavery, the rapid tragedies and triumphs leading to the conclusion--if you haven't signed your soul away to read the next two books after finishing Suldrun's Garden, well, you're a stronger person than me.
"The Green Pearl" has a whole bunch of epic power struggles, principally Aillas' endeavours in the Ulflands. Shimrod's character is also pleasingly developed, and we are introduced to a number of new villains, Torqual most significantly. As an aside, the first chapter--sort of a story within the story--which focuses on the influence of the ghastly green pearl is a very cool interlude between Suldrun's Garden and this second book in the series.
"Madouc" is in a class of its own, as Vance delivers a blossoming hero and finishes strong. The conclusion comes on extremely fast; with 40 pages left I was baffled at the thought that everything would be wrapped up so quickly; and indeed Vance describes around thirteen momentous battles in the space of eight pages or so, but he does it masterfully. In fact I love the brief, to-the-point summaries of the most significant war the Elder Isles has seen for generations, which reads like an entry from an artful history textbook. Even though it kind of seems like Vance was pressured to finish up quickly, it works, and works marvelously at that. Madouc's father, the surprise saved for the final page, was rather obvious throughout, but it still brought a tear to my eye, the way everything falls into place!
Overall, the political intrigue, the struggle between kingdoms, mingled with what Vance does best--magic, flamboyant personalities, and of course alternate dimensions--solidify Lyonesse as one of the greatest fantasy series of all time, and perhaps by far the most underrated. Like, come on, on top of all the excitement, the spies, the feuds, the battles, you've got Tanjecterly! It's all just way too cool, and I don't know about you, but I love Vance's writing. He's just a pleasure to read, always exciting and fun, pomp and all. I miss it already!
Vance's world building throughout this series is incredible, just incredible. His archaic vocabulary and detailed aesthetic descriptions, the lavender soap with pine needles, the rosewater baths, the demons and magic and politics and bloodshed. The Ska! What a people! It's all too cool, and executed in Vance's singularly jocular, potent prose.
"Suldrun's Garden" perhaps begins a little slow with Princess Suldrun's childhood, but the world and character building throughout is off-the-charts awesome. The early scenes with Persilian the mirror, Aillas' stint in slavery, the rapid tragedies and triumphs leading to the conclusion--if you haven't signed your soul away to read the next two books after finishing Suldrun's Garden, well, you're a stronger person than me.
"The Green Pearl" has a whole bunch of epic power struggles, principally Aillas' endeavours in the Ulflands. Shimrod's character is also pleasingly developed, and we are introduced to a number of new villains, Torqual most significantly. As an aside, the first chapter--sort of a story within the story--which focuses on the influence of the ghastly green pearl is a very cool interlude between Suldrun's Garden and this second book in the series.
"Madouc" is in a class of its own, as Vance delivers a blossoming hero and finishes strong. The conclusion comes on extremely fast; with 40 pages left I was baffled at the thought that everything would be wrapped up so quickly; and indeed Vance describes around thirteen momentous battles in the space of eight pages or so, but he does it masterfully. In fact I love the brief, to-the-point summaries of the most significant war the Elder Isles has seen for generations, which reads like an entry from an artful history textbook. Even though it kind of seems like Vance was pressured to finish up quickly, it works, and works marvelously at that. Madouc's father, the surprise saved for the final page, was rather obvious throughout, but it still brought a tear to my eye, the way everything falls into place!
Overall, the political intrigue, the struggle between kingdoms, mingled with what Vance does best--magic, flamboyant personalities, and of course alternate dimensions--solidify Lyonesse as one of the greatest fantasy series of all time, and perhaps by far the most underrated. Like, come on, on top of all the excitement, the spies, the feuds, the battles, you've got Tanjecterly! It's all just way too cool, and I don't know about you, but I love Vance's writing. He's just a pleasure to read, always exciting and fun, pomp and all. I miss it already!
May 2, 2024
Many regard The Lyonesse trilogy as Vance's masterpiece and it's easy to see why. The books tells a story about ambition and deceive in the land of myths Lyonesse, where the old intends to devour the new and the solid principles of the good guys triumph over the incorrigible monsters that populate it, most of which are human, mind you.
It’s flawed. Goes nowhere most of the time, some character arcs are just forgettable when they’re not abandoned, the plot – what plot? -, the second book suffers from serious second book syndrome…stuff.
But it’s beautifully written. A tapestry of good ideas with such highlights that they earn nothing but forgiveness from the right reader. Because when it’s good, it is very good.
If you like fairy tales and fantasy and don’t mind an episodic serial TV show in the lands of enchantment… well, here’s your masterpiece. Enjoy.
It’s flawed. Goes nowhere most of the time, some character arcs are just forgettable when they’re not abandoned, the plot – what plot? -, the second book suffers from serious second book syndrome…stuff.
But it’s beautifully written. A tapestry of good ideas with such highlights that they earn nothing but forgiveness from the right reader. Because when it’s good, it is very good.
If you like fairy tales and fantasy and don’t mind an episodic serial TV show in the lands of enchantment… well, here’s your masterpiece. Enjoy.
December 19, 2018
Sorry Ivan, this just wasn't that great. Maybe this was exceptional for the time, but it just doesn't seem to hold up for me when compared to other Vance works.
November 18, 2024
Bello. D'azione.
February 3, 2016
I bought this series after seeing an obituary which lauded the author as a great teller of faery tales. I was not disappointed.
The world is cruel, without bring hopeless. The language is dreamy without being laboured. And the characters are internally consistent - flawed, but also capable of greatness. Even in the villains you can see what they would have been under other circumstances, if they'd had other drivers. There are some passages that I had to re-read because they are so challenging to modern sensibilities that I thought I'd misread, but they are there. And they don't come across as forced or as if the author's only intent is to shock with depravity: they are plausible in the dreamy, faery tale horror of the narrative.
This series also taught me a new word - "gonfallon" - and that hasn't happened for a number of years.
If I had a list of essential reading, it would be short and this would be on it.
The world is cruel, without bring hopeless. The language is dreamy without being laboured. And the characters are internally consistent - flawed, but also capable of greatness. Even in the villains you can see what they would have been under other circumstances, if they'd had other drivers. There are some passages that I had to re-read because they are so challenging to modern sensibilities that I thought I'd misread, but they are there. And they don't come across as forced or as if the author's only intent is to shock with depravity: they are plausible in the dreamy, faery tale horror of the narrative.
This series also taught me a new word - "gonfallon" - and that hasn't happened for a number of years.
If I had a list of essential reading, it would be short and this would be on it.
January 15, 2019
One of my top three favourite fantasy books - vies with Lord of the Rings for my favourite book of all time.
June 10, 2019
Referring to this trilogy as one “book” it is one of my all time favorites. A true classic.
May 2, 2025
ENGLISH:
An absolute delight from beginning to end.
- A strange mix of a classic fairy tale, Game of Thrones-style intrigue and death, and a touch of rather subtle absurdist humor. Knights march in shining armor, the king's carriage is pulled by unicorns, there's a magic mirror that talks... and just when you're expecting Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs to appear, suddenly a girl is raped, someone is disemboweled and executed, or you see King Casmir murdering his informants to avoid loose ends. This strange mix won't appeal to everyone, but I think it's the best part of the book. From the ridiculous situations generated by the fairies' capricious and humorous behavior to the most abject slavery or the tragedy of the death of a loved one by suicide: there's everything.
- The language is reminiscent of ancient civilizations, with rich vocabulary, but never tiresome.
- the world is as unforgettable as Middle Earth: once you read such a work (it is very long) you will never forget where the forest of Tantrevalles or the ancient city of Ys were.
Unforgettable.
ESPAÑOL:
Una absoluta delicia de principio a fin.
- extraña mezcla de cuento de hadas clásico, con intriga y muerte a lo Juego de Tronos, con ciertas dosis de humor absurdo más bien sutil. Los caballeros marchan en relucientes armaduras, el carruaje del rey es tirado por unicornios, hay un espejo mágico que habla... y cuando ya esperas ver aparecer a Blancanieves y los Siete Enanitos, de repente violan a una niña, destripan a alguien para ejecutarlo, o ves al rey Casmir asesinando a sus informantes para no dejar cabos sueltos. Esa mezcla extraña no le gustará a todo el mundo, pero me parece lo mejor del libro. Desde las situaciones ridículas que genera la conducta caprichosa y graciosa de las hadas hasta la más abyecta esclavitud o la tragedia de la muerte de la amada por suicidio: hay de todo.
- el lenguaje reminiscente de las civilizaciones antiguas, con rico vocabulario, pero que nunca se hace pesado.
- el mundo es tan inolvidable como la Tierra Media: una vez lees semejante obra (es muy larga) ya no se te olvidará dónde estaba el bosque de Tantrevalles, o la antiquísima ciudad de Ys.
Inolvidable.
An absolute delight from beginning to end.
- A strange mix of a classic fairy tale, Game of Thrones-style intrigue and death, and a touch of rather subtle absurdist humor. Knights march in shining armor, the king's carriage is pulled by unicorns, there's a magic mirror that talks... and just when you're expecting Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs to appear, suddenly a girl is raped, someone is disemboweled and executed, or you see King Casmir murdering his informants to avoid loose ends. This strange mix won't appeal to everyone, but I think it's the best part of the book. From the ridiculous situations generated by the fairies' capricious and humorous behavior to the most abject slavery or the tragedy of the death of a loved one by suicide: there's everything.
- The language is reminiscent of ancient civilizations, with rich vocabulary, but never tiresome.
- the world is as unforgettable as Middle Earth: once you read such a work (it is very long) you will never forget where the forest of Tantrevalles or the ancient city of Ys were.
Unforgettable.
ESPAÑOL:
Una absoluta delicia de principio a fin.
- extraña mezcla de cuento de hadas clásico, con intriga y muerte a lo Juego de Tronos, con ciertas dosis de humor absurdo más bien sutil. Los caballeros marchan en relucientes armaduras, el carruaje del rey es tirado por unicornios, hay un espejo mágico que habla... y cuando ya esperas ver aparecer a Blancanieves y los Siete Enanitos, de repente violan a una niña, destripan a alguien para ejecutarlo, o ves al rey Casmir asesinando a sus informantes para no dejar cabos sueltos. Esa mezcla extraña no le gustará a todo el mundo, pero me parece lo mejor del libro. Desde las situaciones ridículas que genera la conducta caprichosa y graciosa de las hadas hasta la más abyecta esclavitud o la tragedia de la muerte de la amada por suicidio: hay de todo.
- el lenguaje reminiscente de las civilizaciones antiguas, con rico vocabulario, pero que nunca se hace pesado.
- el mundo es tan inolvidable como la Tierra Media: una vez lees semejante obra (es muy larga) ya no se te olvidará dónde estaba el bosque de Tantrevalles, o la antiquísima ciudad de Ys.
Inolvidable.
August 5, 2025
fantasy classico e senza guizzi
Trilogia che va a unire due tipologie diverse di fantastico.
Da una parte c'è quello che forse si identifica più comunemente col fantasy: regni e regnanti che si combattono, movimenti di eserciti, intrighi di corte, agnizioni di parenti.
Poi ci sono le parti più favolistiche, simili ai racconti di fate: maghi e creature magiche, viaggi in luoghi incantati, atmosfere sospese, l'incredibile sempre in agguato.
Nel complesso qui funzionano molto meglio le seconde parti che le prime. I capitoli favolistici sono più originali e varî tra loro, mentre gli intrighi e le lotte tra regni sembrano più stanchi, più meccanici, anche perché alla fine non si distaccano da quello che si può trovare in qualunque libro di storia, ma scontano anche una scrittura non particolarmente ispirata, abbastanza semplice, e molto lontana dagli effetti speciali che cercano gli scrittori fantasy più vicini a noi.
Si può parlare di fantasy classico, il cui intento è riprodurre con una certa fedeltà il canone della traduzione fantastica, favolistica, avventurosa e cavalleresca europea. Un fantasy forse d'altri tempi, distante da quelli che dominano oggi, che vogliono rompere regole e confini, contaminarsi, togliere le briglie alla fantasia.
Sarà anche per questo che ho fatto fatica ad apprezzare il libro, specie per la parti più cronachistiche, libro che fatica a spiccare anche nel suo genere.
Alla fine l'ho letto soprattutto perché nella mia lista di letture per il 2025 c'erano almeno due "draghi" Mondadori, ma temo di non aver scelto bene.
Una nota per la traduzione.
A parte alcuni nomi chiaramente celtici e molti altri d'invenzione dell'autore, numerosi nomi di luoghi sono in inglese contemporaneo. Alcuni di essi, invero pochissimi, sono stati tradotti in italiano, mentre tutti gli altri sono stati lasciati in inglese. Dubito però che in un Mondo immaginario situato in un passato semi-mitico, si parlasse l'inglese d'oggi, dunque logica avrebbe voluto che tutti i nomi in inglese dotati di significato andassero tradotti. Vale per questi romanzi, ma penso debba essere un regola generale quando si traduce fantasy.
Trilogia che va a unire due tipologie diverse di fantastico.
Da una parte c'è quello che forse si identifica più comunemente col fantasy: regni e regnanti che si combattono, movimenti di eserciti, intrighi di corte, agnizioni di parenti.
Poi ci sono le parti più favolistiche, simili ai racconti di fate: maghi e creature magiche, viaggi in luoghi incantati, atmosfere sospese, l'incredibile sempre in agguato.
Nel complesso qui funzionano molto meglio le seconde parti che le prime. I capitoli favolistici sono più originali e varî tra loro, mentre gli intrighi e le lotte tra regni sembrano più stanchi, più meccanici, anche perché alla fine non si distaccano da quello che si può trovare in qualunque libro di storia, ma scontano anche una scrittura non particolarmente ispirata, abbastanza semplice, e molto lontana dagli effetti speciali che cercano gli scrittori fantasy più vicini a noi.
Si può parlare di fantasy classico, il cui intento è riprodurre con una certa fedeltà il canone della traduzione fantastica, favolistica, avventurosa e cavalleresca europea. Un fantasy forse d'altri tempi, distante da quelli che dominano oggi, che vogliono rompere regole e confini, contaminarsi, togliere le briglie alla fantasia.
Sarà anche per questo che ho fatto fatica ad apprezzare il libro, specie per la parti più cronachistiche, libro che fatica a spiccare anche nel suo genere.
Alla fine l'ho letto soprattutto perché nella mia lista di letture per il 2025 c'erano almeno due "draghi" Mondadori, ma temo di non aver scelto bene.
Una nota per la traduzione.
A parte alcuni nomi chiaramente celtici e molti altri d'invenzione dell'autore, numerosi nomi di luoghi sono in inglese contemporaneo. Alcuni di essi, invero pochissimi, sono stati tradotti in italiano, mentre tutti gli altri sono stati lasciati in inglese. Dubito però che in un Mondo immaginario situato in un passato semi-mitico, si parlasse l'inglese d'oggi, dunque logica avrebbe voluto che tutti i nomi in inglese dotati di significato andassero tradotti. Vale per questi romanzi, ma penso debba essere un regola generale quando si traduce fantasy.
November 14, 2024
I've reviewed each volume separately, so this is for the whole series, but also largely a cut-and-paste of my Madouc review, minus anything specifically about that 3rd volume.
Wow, what a treat! For all its faults (and it has plenty), this is a wonderful book. The negatives I have are also positives, viewed in a different light: there's just so much in here. So many characters, so many places, the battle scenes near the end (well, hardly scenes, more of a precis) had an appendix-ish quality to then, as opposed to the novelistic "you feel you're there" approach that's usually the case with books these days. But it's hard to condemn an author for having too much invention, too much story.
All the plot threads came together beautifully by the end of the novel, including some unexpected resolutions. It's been a while since I've read something that I think so deserves to be regarded as a classic, and is also a new particular favourite of mine.
(Note: I'm a writer, so I suffer when I offer fewer than five stars. But these aren't ratings of quality, they're a subjective account of how much I liked the book: 5* = an unalloyed pleasure from start to finish, 4* = really enjoyed it, 3* = readable but not thrilling, 2* = disappointing, and 1* = hated it.)
Wow, what a treat! For all its faults (and it has plenty), this is a wonderful book. The negatives I have are also positives, viewed in a different light: there's just so much in here. So many characters, so many places, the battle scenes near the end (well, hardly scenes, more of a precis) had an appendix-ish quality to then, as opposed to the novelistic "you feel you're there" approach that's usually the case with books these days. But it's hard to condemn an author for having too much invention, too much story.
All the plot threads came together beautifully by the end of the novel, including some unexpected resolutions. It's been a while since I've read something that I think so deserves to be regarded as a classic, and is also a new particular favourite of mine.
(Note: I'm a writer, so I suffer when I offer fewer than five stars. But these aren't ratings of quality, they're a subjective account of how much I liked the book: 5* = an unalloyed pleasure from start to finish, 4* = really enjoyed it, 3* = readable but not thrilling, 2* = disappointing, and 1* = hated it.)
May 18, 2025
I do love Jack Vance, and Lyonesse is a page turner - especially the first book. Still, Vance isn't suited for long epic tales, and with how often his kings and princes slips out of the castles to have adventures with bandits and fairies I'd say he himself knows this. Lyonesse is more of a series of picaresques, which Vance excels at, stitched together into a coherent narrative with variable success. Often plotlines are finished abruptly, trail away, or simply forgotten. I don't enjoy judging narrative cohesion, since so much critique of fantasy literature is reduced to it, but Lyonesse will leave you scratching your head or peeved enough times that it needs to be commented upon.
What Jack Vance does well, he does very well. Lyonesse really captures the logic of fairy tales in manner I've not seen in any other literature; the macabre and hilarious delivered in Vance's understated, dry wit. Lyonesse is best read as something like Water Margin, as a collection of folktales where you don't fuzz about the details. Let yourself be carried along by Aillas', Madouc's and Dhrun's adventures on the Ulfish moors or the fairy forest of Tantrevalles and you'll find yourself clutching your gut from both laughter and horror.
What Jack Vance does well, he does very well. Lyonesse really captures the logic of fairy tales in manner I've not seen in any other literature; the macabre and hilarious delivered in Vance's understated, dry wit. Lyonesse is best read as something like Water Margin, as a collection of folktales where you don't fuzz about the details. Let yourself be carried along by Aillas', Madouc's and Dhrun's adventures on the Ulfish moors or the fairy forest of Tantrevalles and you'll find yourself clutching your gut from both laughter and horror.
May 30, 2024
4.5 - A wonderful fairy-tale like fantasy. I especially enjoyed the feel of the story when it was within the Forest of Tantrevalles. There is something about magical forests that I've been particularly drawn to since reading The Forest of Doom in 1984. The Forest of Tantrevalles was mystical, magical, yet weirdly cozy and I can see how it was an inspiration for the new Dolmenwood tabletop role-playing campaign.
Jack Vance doesn't seem to take his story too seriously. It is filled with subtle wit, ribald humour, picaresque travel, and I very much enjoyed his writing style.
If I was to complain about the story, I didn't particularly enjoy the magic system. I thought it was too abstract, but I could see how others might like it for that very reason.
I also didn't enjoy the interactions between Shimrod and Melancthe, it seemed rather pointless to me, although it did at least allow her thoughts of herself to be explained.
I would say that the first two books are more interesting than the third.
I would give this a 5 while the story was in the Forest of Tantrevalles, and a 4.5 for the rest of the story.
Jack Vance doesn't seem to take his story too seriously. It is filled with subtle wit, ribald humour, picaresque travel, and I very much enjoyed his writing style.
If I was to complain about the story, I didn't particularly enjoy the magic system. I thought it was too abstract, but I could see how others might like it for that very reason.
I also didn't enjoy the interactions between Shimrod and Melancthe, it seemed rather pointless to me, although it did at least allow her thoughts of herself to be explained.
I would say that the first two books are more interesting than the third.
I would give this a 5 while the story was in the Forest of Tantrevalles, and a 4.5 for the rest of the story.
December 9, 2020
I first read these in the early 00s, and have reread them at least twice more since. With each read, the series has climbed higher on my list of favorite fantasy works, and now sits near the pinnacle, scarcely lower than Tolkien's Middle Earth stories. The pseudo-historical setting is steeped in myth and folklore. The tale that unfolds over three volumes is rich in action, humor, romance, and tragedy, all written in Vance's masterful style. There is a deliciously bittersweet tone that pervades the series, the same sort of gentle melancholy I experienced when reading of The Grey Havens and the passing of the Third Age in Lord of the Rings. Vance is a true master, and Lyonesse is easily one of his greatest works.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 70 reviews